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Jimmy Buffett 'gets religion,' and gumbo, at Jazz Fest

jimmy buffett.jpg

Jimmy Buffett stops for Prejean's pheasant, quail and andouille gumbo at Food Area II around lunchtime on the second Friday, May 2, 2014, of the New Orleans Jazz Fest. (Photo by Keith Spera, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
(Keith Spera, NOLA.com | The Time)

Wearing shorts, a white T-shirt, sunglasses, a baseball cap and a backpack, Buffett bought two cups of Prejean’s Restaurant’s pheasant, quail and andouille sausage gumbo around noon Friday before disappearing into the crowd once again, according to NOLA.com.

During a brief conversation, Buffett said he’d caught a surprise midnight show by the Alabama Shakes at Preservation Hall on Thursday night. He said his longtime guitarist, Mac MacAnally, introduced him to the Shakes, who hail from Athens, Ala., and are playing Jazz Fest tonight.

He said he’d once asked the group to open a few shows for him because “it would have been cool to have two bands from Alabama,” but they were unable to make that happen.

Though he’s not playing at this year’s Jazz Fest, he told his daughter Savannah Buffett in an interview last year for AXS TV that the event is “kind of like a religion down here.” He also said he always heads to the Gospel Tent first thing because “it’s the only place I actually get religion anymore.”

He also told his daughter in the interview that he played at the very first Jazz Fest, held at Armstrong Park in April of 1970. “I wasn’t anybody back then,” he said.

The second weekend of Jazz Fest opened Thursday. Saturday’s headliners include Bruce Springsteen, Foster The People and Al Jarreau. On Sunday, the festival ends with performances by Aaron Neville, John Fogerty and Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue.